The 25th annual Tokyo International Film Festival kicked off Saturday (Oct 20th,) rolling out its green carpet for the global film community.
Hosted by UNI Japan and presented in a special partnership with Toyota Motors, the film festival will focus on exploring our future through the power of film by presenting the finest Japanese films to the world, and the finest world films to Japan.
Guests to the festival this year include the notorious and incredibly prolific Roger Corman. Corman has directed over fifty films and produced another 550 more in his nearly sixty year career. His participation as the Jury President for the International Competition attests to his popularity and significance as a maverick and influential figure across the world, in addition to his status as a cult figure in his native United States.
The festival officially opened with the screening of Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away directed by Andrew Adamson and produced by James Cameron.
The films for the Tokyo International Film Festival line-up hail from every corner of the globe and include entries from France, Chile, the Netherlands, India, South Korea, Iran, Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
Prize categories for this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival include: the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prize, the Special Jury Prize, Award for Best Director, Award for Best Actress, Award for Best Actor, Award for Best Artistic Contribution, the Audience Award, the Winds of Asia-Middle East, Japanese Eyes and the Toyota Earth Grand Prix.
Of the 103 films being screened this year, fifteen of them will compete in the festival’s competitions, with five of them being world premiers. Making its world premier last night is the Chinese film Feng Shui, directed by Wang Jing, despite earlier fears that it would be pulled from the line-up due to escalating international tensions. A powerful family drama exploring the high price of the pursuit of happiness, Feng Shui will no doubt be a compelling entry for the TIFF’s prestigious competitions.
Since its inception in 1985, the Tokyo International Film Festival has played an integral role in Japan’s filmindustry and culture scene. TIFF remains one of the few Asian competitive film festivals and aspires to be recognized as one of the four major film festivals in the world –in the same league as Cannes, Venice and Berlin. Held in the Roppongi Hills urban centre of the Roppongi district, the Tokyo International Film Festival boasts a central location in one of Tokyo’s most international districts as well as attractive proximity to some of the city’s most exciting night-life.
As members across the creative industries look more toward eastern Asia for inspiration and new innovations, the Tokyo International Film Festival is one to watch now and in the future, and one to attend as soon as the opportunity arises.
